Puerto Morales - May 24-26, 2016

Leaning lighthouse - Peurto Morales

Greetings from foreign ports!  We headed south along the Yucatan peninsula from Isla Mujeres, fighting the strong current of the gulf stream to make our way the relatively short distance to Puerto Morales.

To make headway at a reasonable speed we ended up sailing on jib only (the wind was at about 150 degrees to the boat direction), and motoring at around 1800 RPM.  At this, we were making about 5 kts speed over ground.   Puerto Morales was the first real spot we saw after leaving Isla Mujers, other than the "compound resorts" of Cancun and the coastline south of there.  There is no real "safe harbor" until you reach Puerto Morales and its easy to see how tropical storms would be treacherous in this area.  As evidence, see the leaning lighthouse of Pueto Morales which was apparently pushed to this angle in a hurricane, but has since withstood other storms without falling over!

According to the plaque, the structure was pushed to this angle during hurricane Beulah in

1967 and has withstood other storms such as Wilma and Gilbert without further damage.   It is a little off-putting after stepping off a boat with "sea-legs".  Add a few margaritas and it could be vertical!

There is a long skinny reef that parallels the coastline, visible by a line of breakers.  We sailed generally along the 65 ft depth line for safe distance and to avoid the confused seas where the depth dropped quickly from 100 ft to several hundred feet.  The reef has several short gaps in it where it can be crossed with local knowledge - however, our charts did not have this detail (Navionics).  We do have the guide book by Captain Freya Rausher which I understand is about the best info available for this area.  Although we have the Third Edition, some of the info in it seems a bit dated.

Puerto Morales is a quaint little town - yes it still has the tourist gift  shops, but not quite so many as Isla Mujeres, and the prices are better after a little haggling.  It has a very "laid back" feeling about it and we enjoyed strolling the streets and a nice breakfast in a local restaurant. 

New Lighthouse

The marina here is very nice - Marina El Cid and is part of a resort (same name).  

The marina charge was reasonable at $1.19/ft which includes use of the marina facilities (pools, gym, hot tub etc.).  For drinks, you buy tickets from the dockmaster, and you can purchase meal tickets for use in the resort, or eat at one restaurant that allows cash payment.  The marina was in top notch condition, with floating docks and nice facilities.  Security guards were evident, particularly at night.  

The town is a good 30-40 minute walk from the marina and there is not too much en route.  Taxis - well I think someone has the monopoly on cabs - they seemed a bit pricey compared to other areas at a fixed charge of 120 pesos for the short ride.  But still - the driver we had on our return trip was really friendly and helpful.

We made use if the resort facilities but also had a nice dinner in the town.  We were able to spend some time with one of our dock neighbors - Patrick from a Lagoon 45 named Milpat.  Patrick had participated in several rallies and had sailed his boat from France.  He is currently awaiting crew before heading south for Hurricane season.

 In addition to gift shops, we had heard that the town has a really good vegetable market.  I am not sure if we were there on the wrong day or just too late.  We saw some evidence of vegetable stalls and one was still operating.  The produce was certainly good and looked much fresher than others we had seen on our travels in Mexico.  So on the right day - this probably is the spot to stock up on fresh veges if heading further south.

Brian and nephew Tanner (our crew) enjoying dinner at one of the local restaurants on the town square.  Our new friend Patrick joined us after inviting us for drinks on his beautiful cat.  He had rented a car, so we all piled in for the short drive to town for dinner.

We stayed a couple of night in Morales which was long enough to decompress a little more and long enough to reinforce that we could not do a complete vacation at a resort again!!  We met some real nice people that were vacationing here, but most had not ventured from the limits of the resort (aka compound) during their stay.

From here, we made plans to head south to Puerto Aventura, a short 30 miles or so south......uphill against the gulf stream again! [Was it Hemingway that said, "gentlemen don't sail uphill"  - I am not really sure, but someone famous said it!!:)].

We had tried to make reservations earlier in the week for Marina Aventura, but the marina was full due to a circuit of fishing tournaments currently making its rounds in the area.  Good thing we checked in advance!  Communication with the dockmaster "Gerry" via email seemed to work pretty well.